muttley hates software: iMovie

From: Simon Wistow
Date: 13:58 on 12 Aug 2003
Subject: iMovie
This stems from a while back when I was doing some freelance video
editing for $games_magazine.
I decided to use iMovie on a Titanium Powerbook. Don't ask.
Now there are many reasons to hate iMovie but I worked with ti and
appreciated some of the features. I let it lull me in to a false sense
of security - even ignoring the fact that I had to jump through
incredible hoops to convert NTSC to PAL.
More fool me.
Most non-linear video editing software has the concept of a shelf. You
stick your movie clips on there and then construct stuff in the time
line, cropping, editing and adding filters where necessary. Then you
bake the movie and it works it all out for you.
iMovie has a similar concept. Except it actually cuts up the movie
clips and either has them in the shelf or the timeline. I can see why
they did this. I don't have to like it but at least I can understand it.
Except one time was moving everything off the time line and back into
the shelf. I had saved the movie in advance of doing this. I thought I
was ok.
Except iMovie crashed.
It had done this before. Lots. So I wasn't unduly worried.
Except that it wiped all the assets being moved from the timeline to the
shelf. So all the stuff I wanted then.
I can only presume that it had some odd special move function to
preserve space or something - I honestly don't know.
3 days work down the drain and a deadline looming.
Laugh. I almost did. In a cackling, maniacally, verge of a nervous
breakdown kind of way.
My name is Simon Wistow and I hate iMovie.